Brad Battin new Liberal leader, Sam Groth deputy after John Pesutto ousted
New Opposition Leader Brad Battin has pledged to unite a deeply divided Victorian Liberal Party and put forward policies to help “rebuild” Victoria ahead of the 2026 election after ousting John Pesutto from the top job.
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New Opposition Leader Brad Battin has pledged to unite a deeply divided Victorian Liberal Party and focus on reducing taxes, tackling crime and sorting out the cost-of-living and home-ownership crises, after ousting John Pesutto from the top job.
Amid ongoing party instability and in the aftermath of a disastrous court loss, Mr Pesutto was punted by his colleagues at a special meeting on Friday after some of his key supporters defected, paving the way for a spill motion.
After emerging victorious from the tense leadership ballot, Mr Battin said it was time for the Victorian Liberal Party to step up and “put forward policies that will allow us to rebuild this state” ahead of the 2026 election.
“It is now our time to come out as a united team to show you that we are the team to go into government in 701 days’ time,” Mr Battin said.
“This is a moment for action, not just words.
“Labor is out of money, out of ideas, and out of touch with Victorians.
“We will focus on reducing taxes, making government more efficient and driving economic growth by limiting the ways it interferes in the lives of Victorians,” he said.
“We will tackle the crime crisis head on, hold offenders accountable, and ensure the safety of every Victorian.”
The leadership win for Mr Battin, a former suburban cop and owner of a Baker’s Delight shop who represents the outer suburban seat of Berwick, came after he phoned Mr Pesutto on Boxing Day to formally notify him that he intended to challenge for the leadership.
It was believed he would be unopposed, but ahead of Friday’s special party room meeting frontbencher Jess Wilson and Mornington MP Chris Crewther threw their hats in the ring.
It led to a two-round ballot. MPs were given two votes in the first round, where Ms Wilson was knocked out after receiving just 11 votes behind Mr Battin’s 25 and Mr Crewther’s 20. But the former cop’s popularity became clear in the second round, with the final tally sitting at 21 to seven.
Three MPs who were away on holiday – Cindy McLeish, Nick McGowan and Richard Welch – were unable to vote after a push by Mr Pesutto for them to participate remotely was rejected.
After the vote, Mr Pesutto congratulated his successor and pledged to continue as the MP for Hawthorn.
“We’re all behind Brad now and we’re focused on the election in 2026,” he said.
His loss comes despite recent polling which shows the Coalition is in an election-winning position.
It was Mr Battin’s third tilt at the top job, including a failed spill against former leader Michael O’Brien in 2021.
He also lost a leadership contest in 2022 by just one vote, which went to Mr Pesutto after Matthew Guy’s resounding election defeat at the hands of Daniel Andrews.
On Friday night Liberal MPs were rallying around their new leader. Nicole Werner, who was among five MPs to arrive alongside Mr Battin ahead of the meeting, said he had a “clear mandate” to lead the party. “Brad Battin was voted in as leader with a decisive result, with over 70 per cent of the party room vote,” she said.
Former tennis star Sam Groth, who is now deputy leader, said he was confident the new leadership team could defeat Labor at the next state election.
“My colleagues have my absolute commitment that I will work every day for them, for the party and for the people of Victoria to make sure we deliver that change that Brad wants to bring to government in 2026,” he said.
In the meeting, David Davis was picked to replace Georgie Crozier as leader of the upper house, while Evan Mulholland will remain deputy upper house leader.
Mr Battin’s all-male leadership team has already attracted criticism.
On Friday, photos were already circulating of the team as a meme comparing it to an all- male leadership team in 1954.
But Mr Battin gave an assurance that strong-performing women within the party room would be brought onto the front bench.
He has ruffled feathers over talk of a prearranged shadow cabinet, including replacing shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell with James Newbury.
A Labor government statement on Friday afternoon said: “Today was a day when the Liberals should have been focused on anyone but themselves, with the state facing its worst bushfire threat in years.
“But instead, they were in parliament fighting about their fourth leader in four years.”
Deeming back in Lib fold
Conservative MP Moira Deeming said she was “shell shocked” and “delighted” by a vote to readmit her to the parliamentary Liberal Party, after more than 18 months in exile.
An emotional Mrs Deeming, who was booted from the party room in May last year, said she was thrilled that the “unjust allegations and expulsions have been overturned”.
“Nobody thought that we could do it, but we did,” she said.
Mrs Deeming’s readmission comes after the Federal Court ruled that ousted leader John Pesutto had defamed her by claiming she was associated with neo-Nazis.
It came after a group of white supremacists gatecrashed a women’s march she had organised last year.
Mrs Deeming said the journey to return to the parliamentary Liberal Party had been long and painful, “because this, this has all just been completely unnecessary and tragic for everybody involved”.
She thanked Mr Pesutto for apologising to her personally as she re-entered the party room, but noted not all Liberal MPs had welcomed her with open arms.
“To be honest, it’s been a bit difficult, but a few people shook my hands,” she said.
“I have to actually give credit to John Pesutto.
“He did shake my hand and say sorry to me personally today. So thank you.”
Mrs Deeming was returned to the party room prior to a vote to spill the leadership, and is believed to have backed new leader, Brad Battin.
After an initial vote on her re-entry one week ago split the party down the middle, 14-14, an overwhelmingly majority secured her readmission on Friday, with the final tally understood to be 23 to four.
Mrs Deeming said she was now ready to get back to work.
“I’m looking forward to working with the new leadership team for my western metro constituents and to defeat Labor in 2026,” she said.
“As hard as I have fought for justice and for my family across these last two years, I promise you, that is how hard I am going to fight for justice and for every single family in this state.”
DECISION TIME ARRIVES FOR LIBS
Pesutto arrives alone to learn fate
Ahead of the meeting to decide his fate, Mr Pesutto was spotted walking by himself through the parliament carpark about 9.15am.
In stark contrast, Mr Battin walked in flanked by allied MPs.
They included Sam Groth, who was the frontrunner for deputy and shadow ministers Richard Riordan and Bridget Vallence, as well as MPs Nicole Werner and Joe McCracken.
Party room ‘a weird beast’
Senior Liberal and Pesutto ally Georgie Crozier was one of the first to enter the party room.
Asked if she was confident Mr Pesutto could hold on to the leadership, she said the party room was “a weird beast”.
Mr Pesutto walked in alongside deputy leader David Southwick, claiming he was focused on the bushfires raging across Victoria.
“We will deal with these matters in here but the most important thing for us as Victorians is to look out for each other,” he said.
Mr Battin said he was “quite confident” as he led his team of allies into the party room about 9.50am.
“(It’s a) democratic process,” he said.
“Anyone with their hand up for any position for any position they like.”
He denied that Mr Crewther’s last minute entry would split his support.
Mr Crewther, who announced his intention to challenge in a midnight email to colleagues, was the only MP to stop and speak to reporters on the way in.
He said he hoped to have the majority in “the final round of voting” but said his actual support was “a mystery”.
“One can never know what can happen on the day,” he said.
Mr Crewther, who represents the seat of Mornington, said he had been considering putting himself up for leader for a “number of months”.
Three MPs who are away on holiday were unable to vote after a push by Mr Pesutto to allow them to participate remotely failed to get up.
The MPs included Cindy McLeish, Nick McGowan and Richard Welch.
Third contender after midnight email
A third Liberal MP put his hand up for the leadership overnight in an eleventh-hour bid to replace John Pesutto.
Mr Crewther, a federal MP turned state, sent an email to colleagues at 12.47am to inform them he would also throw his hat in the ring if a spill motion was successful.
Mr Crewther, who is considered on the right of the party, serves as opposition whip in the lower house and shadow parliamentary secretary for Justice and Corrections.
His move followed on from Ms Wilson, who declared she would also put her hand up just hours after contender Mr Battin phoned the Opposition Leader to warn him of a looming spill.
Ahead of his third tilt at the leadership, Mr Battin plugged in a Boxing Day call with the Opposition Leader to flag his intention to motion for a spill.
One MP said Mr Crewther’s last-minute entry into the race could pull votes from the frontrunner, Mr Battin, suggesting his backers were now “divided”.
“Jess Wilson remains the only leadership candidate that can lead a united team,” they said.
But Mr Battin on Friday morning welcomed both nominations.
“They are both enthusiastic new members in their first term who have a lot to contribute,” he said.
Exiled Liberal MP Moira Deeming was also expected to be re-admitted to the parliamentary party at the special meeting, originally called by Mr Pesutto for January 15 to hold the second vote on the matter in just two weeks.
However, five MPs fast-tracked the meeting in an urgent effort to revamp the party before the new year.
Sam Groth was tipped to throw his hat in the ring to be second in charge — a role now held by long-time Liberal, David Southwick.
Some rank-and-file members were concerned that the move to topple Mr Pesutto could lead the Victorian Liberals into yet another devastating electoral loss.
It came after recent polling showed the Liberals’ popularity was rising among Victorian voters, despite Mr Pesutto’s legal woes.
However, the majority of the Liberal party room, including previous allies of Mr Pesutto, said the problem-plagued leader’s reign must come to an end and are likely to vote in favour of a spill.
Mr Battin, a long touted challenger for the leadership, called Mr Pesutto on Thursday morning to warn him of the looming challenge.
He was understood to have secured the backing of the majority of the party room.
However, loyalists to Mr Pesutto were still hoping for a more amicable deal to negotiate an “arrangement”.
Ms Wilson, in a statement on Thursday night, said she would also contend the leadership to give her colleagues “a choice”.
“The best way forward to defeat Jacinta Allan and Labor was with a unified leadership ticket,” she wrote.
“Unfortunately, it has been made clear to me today that a unity ticket is no longer on the table.
“Given that and after consulting my colleagues, I’ve decided to stand to offer them a choice.”
The special meeting will include a ballot on Mrs Deeming’s re-entry and the party leadership, as well as on whether MPs can participate remotely.
The situation follows an email sent to colleagues by Mr Pesutto on Christmas Eve, in which he advised that he would invoke a special clause to allow absent MPs to participate remotely while away on holiday.
However, the move has been criticised by senior Liberal James Newbury, who claimed Mr Pesutto’s proposal was in “breach of the constitution”.
A successful leadership spill would also leave leader and deputy leader of the Upper House up for grabs.
Senior Liberal David Davis was expected to take over from Georgie Crozier, while outspoken MP Bev McArthur was expected to put her hand up for deputy.
It’s understood that some MPs were also aware that a leadership spill at Christmas, and when the state’s fire services were battling a major blaze in the west on one of the worst fire days in a decade, “was not a good look”.
Mr Battin and Mr Pesutto were contacted for comment.
The government was also remaining relatively quiet on Boxing Day morning, with Premier Jacinta Allan sidelined by Covid over Christmas.
Ms Allan remained isolated in her home in Bendigo on Boxing Day after revealing she had tested positive on Monday, having begun to feel symptoms while in briefings about the Grampians fires. In a Christmas video posted on social media, Ms Allan appeared visibly ill. “Hi, I’ve got Covid. Bit of an early Christmas gift from one of the kids,” she joked, while emphasising that she was staying “focused on the fire danger” from home.
Over Christmas, the State Control Centre briefed Ms Allan remotely.
She was also in contact with Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, who will address the public later today.
It’s unclear when the Premier will be back on duty, but government sources have confirmed she is testing regularly and will return as soon as possible.
The Premier’s unfortunate illness comes as the state faces dire fire conditions.
But Ms Allan has received hundreds of supportive messages online encouraging her to get well soon.
Originally published as Brad Battin new Liberal leader, Sam Groth deputy after John Pesutto ousted
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